This invention relates to a zigzag folding apparatus having a web cutter for separating interconnected, zigzag folded web segments along selected foldlines thereof to form groups of such folded web segments while being conveyed toward a discharge station, the cutter being movable between extended and retracted positions between selected folds of the webs. This invention further relates to U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,724, commonly owned herewith.
Web cutters of this general type are disclosed in German Patent No. 3,013,865 and in German Published Patent Application No. 3,502,176. A continuous web is folded in some normal manner along spaced apart foldlines thereof into a zigzag fold of interconnected web segments forming a zigzag stack which may be subsequently fed through another printing device such as, for example, a speed printer for printing alphanumeric symbols on command from a data processor.
As the availability of data processing devices has increased, particularly the smaller versions, more zigzag folded webs need be made available for purchase by the average consumer interested in small zigzag folded stacks handy enough for rapid and easy transport and daily use. This has led to the demand for zigzag folded stacks having a relatively small number, about 500 to 1000, of zigzag folded web segments.
As set forth in the aforementioned German documents, it is known to cut the interconnected web segments along selected foldlines thereof to form smaller groups of interconnected, folded web segments. However, the prior art techniques require costly equipment which only leads to the provision of costly, small stacks of zigzag folded forms. The cost could be considerably reduced if the individual stacks can be made smaller in a single operation during production of the web, i.e., during the process of forming the perforated end feed strips, during printing of the web, etc.
The known zigzag folding devices are often constructed such that the continuous web to be zigzag folded leaves the folding device in a fold which is reshaped into a stack after further advancement to the discharge station. In this manner it is possible to divert the air trapped between the folded web segments especially during high production speeds, and to thereafter form stacks in the desired manner. Otherwise, for slow processing speeds for the web to be processed, a zigzag folded stack may be formed by the zigzag folding devices without first forming a scale of initially folded web segments.